Marvel Boss Kevin Feige Reportedly Supports Disney’s Decision to Fire James Gunn

Earlier today, it was revealed that Marvel most likely won’t be rehiring James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — and it sounds like that decision was made across the board.

According to Variety, there was a brief push to possibly get Gunn reinstated after he was fired from Vol. 3 for a slew of controversial tweets several years ago about rape and pedophilia. This effort ultimately culminated in Gunn meeting with Disney studio chairman Alan Horn, who took the meeting “only as a courtesy to clear the air with Gunn.” While Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was reportedly out of town when the meeting took place, the reporting suggests that he “stands by” Disney’s decision.

For some Marvel fans, this will be a bit of a surprise, as Feige had been rumored to be pushing for Gunn to be reinstated. But according to this report, that isn’t the case.

This whole development leaves Disney and Marvel in a unique situation, as Vol. 3 was expected to enter production in the beginning of 2019. Apparently, Disney will likely be using Gunn’s script for the film, but whatever new director is brought on will presumably make some changes to it.

In the meantime, Hollywood has had a pretty divided response to the whole ordeal, with celebrities like Selma Blair and Jerry Seinfeld coming out in various degrees of support of Gunn. The cast of the Guardians franchise also expressed that sort of sentiment, releasing a statement that went viral earlier this month.

“Where I’m at right now is that if [Marvel] don’t use that script, then I’m going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out or recast me,” Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, said of Gunn’s potential involvement in the film. “I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.”

“Nobody’s defending his tweets, but this was a smear campaign on a good man,” Bautista added. “I spoke to Chris Pratt the day after it happened and he’s a bit religious so he wanted time to pray and figure it out, but I was more like: f-ck this. This is bullsh-t. James is one of the kindest, most decent people I’ve met.”

What do you think of Feige reportedly supporting the latest Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 decision? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on digital platforms, DVD, and Blu-ray. Ant-Man and the Wasp is in theaters now. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019; the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019; and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.